Marauders' Year One: James
by Hope Wheeler
Summary: Two more reviews and I update! The story of the Marauders' first year at Hogwarts, with an emphasis on James . . . The rest of the seven years hopefully will follow as separate stories.
1. Introduction

This is my first attempt at a Harry Potter fic, set in the Marauders' era . . .

* * *

"James! Did you hear that? I thought I heard something . . ."

"No, you didn't," the man standing in front of the closed door replied crossly. "Just like the last time and the time before that. There's nothing there, I promise. No one is coming." Ever since they had to go into hiding with their son, who was less than a year old, every moment was filled with tension.

"I'm sorry, James. But I'm so afraid . . . if it were just me, then I'd face him, but with Harry now . . ."

"I know, Lil, I know." He moved over toward her and took her hands in his. "We'll be fine. Only the secret keeper can tell our hiding place."

"Sirius, right?" James frowned, turning away to look out into the empty space before him. "James?" He shook his head slowly.

"He changed his mind. Thought that it would be too obvious, since he was my best man." James sighed before continuing. "He's right, much as I hate to admit it, he would be the first one they would try to corner."

"Then who, James?" Lily felt rather anxious realizing that their best friend was not the one who had the ability to reveal this location, and not a little upset with her husband for not informing her earlier. "Not your friend Lupin, then?"

"No, poor chap doesn't even trust himself just because of the whole werewolf thing."

"Dumbledore?" she asked hopefully.

"No, Lily; it's Pete."

"Pettigrew? But James, we haven't talked to him in . . . ages."

"Which makes it all more reasonable that he be our secret keeper. And it was Sirius' idea," he added, as though it would completely validate the decision to his wife.

"I don't know, James. What if he tells . . . ."

"He won't," he replied confidently. He was one of my best friends back at Hogwarts. One of the four Marauders . . ." There was a crash and the muffled sound of boots clumping in the snow outside.

"Don't tell me you didn't hear that, James Potter!" Lily said in an anxious whisper as her husband moved quickly to the window.

"Of course I heard it, but it's probably just some animal . . . . Get Harry and run!" Lily didn't pause to question, but quickly picked up her infant son out of the cradle he was in. James stood in the doorway, blocking the only entrance to the house. He took a quick step backward when the door swung suddenly open in front of him. The auror attempted to sound more courageous than he felt as he stood facing Tom Marvolo Riddle, long known as Lord Voldemort. "I understand that you have issues with me, Riddle, but I would appreciate it if we could take care of it somewhere . . ." he began firmly. Wordlessly, the Dark Lord swiftly lifted his wand with a simple movement of his arm.

"You were almost a challenge for me, James," he began in a strangely conversational voice. "Too bad." Then he shook his head, pointing the wand directly at James' chest. "Avada Kedavra!"

"NO!" Lily screamed as her husband fell to the ground, dead. She held Harry closer as Voldemort walked toward her. "Please, please . . . ." she pleaded.

"There's no reason for you to have to die," he told her coolly. "Just let me have the boy."

"Never!" Lily exclaimed. "You'll have to kill me fir . . ."

"Amazing," Voldemort interrupted. "You can't stop me; no one can." The tip of his wand ran along the blankets that Harry was wrapped in.

"No! Please, leave him alone. He hasn't done anything . . ."

"He was born." The Dark Lord's wand suddenly shot up to the bottom of her chin and he used it to lift up her head so that she looked him directly in the face. "Tell me, Lily, is it really worth losing your life to try to save his?" Anger flashed in her eyes.

"You'll never understand love, Voldemort!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

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Please review! Any comments are appreciated, and mean that I will be more motivated to get the story completed more quickly. I know this was short, but it was just the introduction; the rest will be much better, I promise! 

Cheers!


	2. Hogwarts Express

Now that I've gotten that introduction over with, time for the fun to begin. Welcome to the Hogwarts years of the Marauders. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Remus Lupin sat on his bed, earnestly studying a large textbook entitled "Transfigurations: A Guide for Beginners". He had been working for nearly three hours, having not been able to sleep in his excitement. Remus had been preparing to go to Hogwarts from the day his seemingly normal father informed him that he was a wizard. After glancing on the clock at his wall, he quickly stuffed a pile of books into his book bag and headed down the stairs. 

Lupin lowered his newspaper, which concealed a copy of the Daily Prophet, when he heard his son approaching. "Leaving already?" Remus nodded.

"I thought if I got to the station early, I might meet some of my classmates before the train leaves. And I might get some more reading done." His father smiled.

"I don't think your professors will expect you to have all of your texts memorized when you arrive, Remus."

"No, probably not, but it can't hurt to be prepared," The boy responded seriously. He headed toward the door, turning a rather odd-looking map of London in his hands as he walked.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you? I do know the way." Remus frowned, wrinkles creasing his forehead.

"I think I can find it."

"All right, then. Send an owl when you get there and let me know what house you're in. Maybe it will be Gryffindor," his father said, lifting his paper back up to resume reading.

"Okay, father." _I sure hope I get in Gryffindor. _The eleven–year-old thought to himself. _He didn't say it, but Dad will be so disappointed if I'm not in his old house. I just hope I can make him proud of me._

- - - - - - -

"Sirius Black, you get out of that bed this instant!" Just before covering his head with a pillow, the boy yelled back his response.

"Sure, mother. I'll be right down."

"Sirius, If I don't see your face in my living room in two seconds . . ." Mrs. Black warned. He sat up in his bed, grinning as he reached for his wand, actually the third one his parents had bought for him. His mother was greeted with the image of her son's face floating in mid-air in front of her.

"Sirius Black, your father and I are not sending you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn stupid tricks and play games. Magic . . ."

"Is serious business," he finished wryly as he sauntered down the curved staircase now fully dressed. A small bag containing books sailed gently in the air in front of him.

"Carry those properly! You don't want any of those muggles to see you doing magic do you?" she asked with her hand on her hips. "Do you have all of your books?"

"The same ones I had the last ten times you checked." He grabbed the bag and flung it over his shoulder.

"Do you have your wand?" Sirius shook his head, still smiling. _Like I'm gonna forget that._

"Bye, Mum," he answered, stopping to kiss her on the cheek on the way out the door.

"Wait just one minute, young man. I'm taking you in the car."

"No," Sirius stated emphatically as he held the door open. "I'm walking to the station where I will join the rest of the students on the Hogwarts Express."

"You will do no such thing! I will not have my son riding on a train surrounded by muggles, and mudbloods, and all other unsavory types. I'm taking you directly to Hogwarts and . . ."

"Goodbye, Mum," Sirius mumbled as he stepped outside into the free air. She (and his father as well) had been telling him exactly what "their son" would and would not do since the moment he was born. Being born into the infamous Black family meant you had a particular reputation to uphold – one of unusual skill with magic and a non-association policy toward anyway not born of two wizarding parents. Sirius shrugged. At least at Hogwarts, he could be away from their constant complaining and lectures on "proper behavior". And it couldn't be all that bad. Having the ability to do magic had already proven itself to be rather beneficial when it came to dealing with his mother. Even though he knew he technically was not allowed, Mr. and Mrs. Black seemed to think that rule was not important for them to follow. As far as his mother knew, at this moment he was still standing right there in front of her, listening to her "first day of school speech." The boy smiled. This year might just be okay after all.

- - - - - - -

Remus arrived at the station very early. Only a few people wandered around as he prepared to enter Platform 9 ¾ the way his directions said. After assuring himself that no one was paying attention to him, he slid through the wall completely unnoticed. He turned in a circle staring. He seemed to be in a completely different station, a completely different world, surrounded by hurrying people in rather unusual clothes. The eleven-year-old checked his watch then took out one of his books as he began walking toward the train. As he maneuvered the aisle way, he was so absorbed in his reading that he didn't notice the two older students coming up behind him.

"Looks like another first year," the boy commented, running a hand through his shoulder-length blond hair that appeared almost white. "Let's say we help him out." He turned grinning to the girl who walked beside him.

"You do mean you're going to show him where to go, don't you, Lucius?" The boy shook his head in a amusement.

"For a second year, you really are naïve, Cissy. Sure, I'll help him out, but what is the point of being a veteran if you can't have a little fun? Hey there!" he called out. Remus turned around to see who was talking to him. "My name's Lucius Malfoy, second year Hogwarts student. And you are?" The older boy extended his hand.

"Remus," he replied, surprised, as he shook his hand. "Remus Lupin." Lucius took a quick step back, suddenly frowning.

"Well, I guess you can't help it," he glanced back at the girl to make sure she was paying attention. "I mean, it's not your fault, right?" Remus looked confused and had not idea how to respond.

"What is not his fault, Lucius?" The girl asked.

"Well, Cissy," he began in a sarcastic drawl. "Poor little Remus here, was so unfortunate as to have been born to a muggle. I heard that she abandoned them because her son was too much for her to handle," he continued, a very matter-of-fact smirk on his face. "But I'm sure that's not really true. Or is it, Remus?"

"N-no!" the younger student sputtered. "That's not true. She . . ."

"Of course it's not," Lucius said sweetly. He patted him on the back so hard that he dropped the books he was holding. The two older students didn't seem to notice but simply walked past, leaving him to pick up a mess on his own. "By the way, I think all of the first years are down on the other end." He turned to his friend. "Funny though, I can't recall my father ever lying before." Remus had been working hard to control his frustration, but now he gave up. Abandoning his books, he reached for his wand.

"Accio shoe!" he whispered. It was a simple charm, very basic, but it worked better than he had expected (he actually hadn't expected it to work at all). Lucius tripped rather ungracefully as his shoe came off and flew backwards. He was barely able to catch himself from landing with his face on the floor. Regaining his balance, he turned back around.

"Give me back my shoe, Lupin," he demanded in a calm voice full of disgust. Remus, now seriously rethinking what he had done, quietly surrendered it. "Nice trick by the way. Buy you should be warned – some of us older students won't put up with foolish antics by first-years."

"I actually thought it was fairly good wand work for a beginner," said a voice behind Remus.

"Oh, really," Lucius drawled. "But I'm sure that you could do better, eh, Black? Since you're a pure-blood wizard."

"Sirius!" Narcissa exclaimed. "Aunt Quereia told me you were starting this year."

"Why don't you join us, Black. Your parents wouldn't want you to be seen in certain company," he warned, looking pointedly at Remus.

"I'm pretty sure I can make my own decisions, Malfoy. Like you said, I'm watching my company."

"Your loss," Lucius smirked.

"I'd rather eat an earwax flavored jelly bean, wouldn't you?" Sirius said to Remus as he bent down to help him. "He's got about as much personality as one, anyway." His new friend smiled weakly. "Well, I guess you already know, my name's Sirius."

"I'm Remus Lupin. Thanks . . ."

"Don't mention it. C'mon, we'd better find a car before this train takes off."

- - - - - - -

"Welcome to the Hogwarts Express, first years. I'm James Potter, and I will be selling your Great Hall Dinner Passes." The young boy with unruly black hair stood on a suitcase in the aisle way of the train. "Get 'em fast or you'll not get a good seat." Several eager boys and girls ran up to him. "Only five galleons each, but they won't be here for long."

"Must be some dinner!" on girl exclaimed. As the initial rush of customers ended, James counted his money, smiling to himself.

"Excuse me," an older-looking boy said to him. "Did you say you have passes for dinner?" Potter jumped down from his suitcase and shook his head as he checked his pockets.

"Sorry, mate. They went too fast. Oh, there's just one more left." He pulled out one more slip of paper, holding it out in front of the potential customer. "Listen, you look like a nice chap, so I'll give you a good deal – only seven galleons for this very last ticket." The boy didn't take the ticket, instead he smiled coolly at James.

"Do I get my choice of seats with this ticket?"

"Erm, sure," James replied uneasily.

"Wrong answer," the other continued as he pulled a shiny badge out of his pocket. "The name's Kingsley. Gryffindor prefect." He flashed the badge engraved with the letter P in front of James' face. "So when exactly were you planning to give these students back there money, James Potter?" The younger boy's face turned red, then he chuckled nervously.

"I was, well, going to do it right now," he stammered. "Pretty funny joke, huh?"

"Brilliant," agreed Kingsley. "I'm sure Headmaster Dumbledore will really enjoy hearing about it." He was gathering passes from the curious students who had ventured back out of their rooms.

"Nice doing business with you," James called out after the prefect was out of hearing range. Fortunately for him, the other students he had scammed had not heard the conversation and were not yet demanding that he return their galleons. He went back to counting was he had left. Thirty galleons, no thanks to Mr. Prefect.

"Hey, Potter!" someone called. James spun in the direction of the voice, nearly tripping on his suitcase.

"Sorry, all sold out of . . ." he began, but the boy with wavy dark hair cut him off.

"I have something you might be interested in," he said, his arms folded as he leaned against the wall. The small, quiet boy behind him frowned in confusion.

"What's that?" James asked.

"You wand." The boy held it just out of James' reach while he adjusted his glasses to verify that he really was his wand.

"How did you . . ."

"Let's make a deal here, Potter. I'll tell you for, hmm, thirty galleons." James muttered something under his breath, but reluctantly handed over the money. The other boy started walking away before he stopped suddenly. "By the way, I took it out of your pocket while you were concentrating on your little business venture."

"I need my wand back," James stated. He was starting to become angry.

"Oh, that. I did only promise to tell you how I got it." James gritted his teeth. He was going to be in so much trouble. "But I'm sure we can work something out," he continued confidently. James grinned. He had to admit, the kid had class. Still smiling, he ran to catch up with the boy who had stolen his wand, and his silent partner who was following along behind him.

"What's your name? I'm . . ."

"James Potter, I heard." James laughed.

"Yeah, I guess you did. Well, at least I'm famous now."

"My name is Sirius, and this is Remus." James snorted.

"Sirius? What kind of name is that?"

"What kind of name is Potter?" Sirius asked a little snidely. Remus giggled.

"Good point," James agreed. "Now can I have my wand back?"

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Well, that's it for now! I hope you liked it and that you will leave me a review! Next Chapter - the Sorting Hat and more . . .

Hope


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